Mathas, Fiend SeekerMathas, Fiend Seeker | Art by Joe Slucher
Hello, and welcome to Am I the Bolas? This week, Mardu in practice, Dimir in spirit!
This column is for all of you out there who have ever played some Magic and wondered if you were the bad guy. I'm here to take in your story with all of its nuances so I can bring some clarity to all those asking, "Am I the Bolas?"
I'm ready to hear you out and offer advice. All you have to do is email amithebolas@gmail.com with your story, a pseudonym you want to use, and of course, only include details you don't mind in the column! You might see your story below one day. You might even hear it on the podcast. Which podcast?
THIS PODCAST! Do us a favor a subscribe to us. We've got some fun stuff in the works and it would mean a lot to Michael, Morgan, and I if you did! Become a Bolcut and get into the Bolcast!
I'm Mike Carrozza, let's play another.
(Post edited for brevity, clarity, and then some.)
SUBMISSION
Hi Mike,
I love your column. A few times lately I've commented both in agreement and disagreement with you and each time we've had a healthy back and forth. I love that about you and your column, which is why I'm writing to you again with what I hope you'll find an interesting submission:
I run a Mathas, Fiend SeekerMathas, Fiend Seeker deck I titled, "Political Puppets" (Bracket 2), where the game plan is to work together with other players against an archenemy. It's a tricky deck to play, as I'm balancing being a friend to at least two of the players, trying not to be seen as a threat, but also not being so much not a threat that I can't win.
I make friends with targeted group hug cards, like Hunted DragonHunted Dragon and it's ilk, and "let's work together" cards, like Excavation TechniqueExcavation Technique, and of course intentional targeting of Mathas' bounty counters. Even with my board wipes, like Mythos of SnapdaxMythos of Snapdax, I often allow players "on my team" to pick which of their cards to keep, which despite having just lost a bunch of their board to me, they feel like I did them a favor by not choosing their worst cards for them.
My "Am I the Bolas?" question is around one specific card I use in a specific way. I play Abyssal PersecutorAbyssal Persecutor along with a few sacrifice outlets in my mana base so I can remove it at will. The way this plays out is in one of two ways:
1) When the archenemy knocks below zero life, they are still in the game and they keep fighting with the rest of the "team."
OR
2) The archenemy gets knocked below zero, but their big threats are still on the board. In either case, I have the option to knock that player out at instant speed by sacking my Abyssal PersecutorAbyssal Persecutor, thus making them my lacky. Most don't realize this right away, learning as soon as I warn them not to do something I don't like, or else...
The first one usually makes people happy, since even if they can't win they get satisfaction from being part of not letting the others win. The second, though, has been a bit divisive. I've had someone have fun with the mini game to try and get his life back up (he had a commander with lifelink that was not part of his main gameplan, I don't recall who) and I also had someone upset saying he'd rather have just been knocked out. For context, the former was a friend, and the latter a stranger at an LGS.
I get that it's a bit of a Bolas move to keep someone in the game, under threat of instant removal. On the other hand, most people, despite the obvious extortion, have fun with it. I see this as creating a unique play pattern which I find fun, and also a way to keep players playing the game when they might otherwise have to wait for the next game in the pod to start.
To start, am I the Bolas here? And furthermore, do you have any ideas or insights on how I could not be the Bolas with this interaction or avoid the negative feelings that occasionally come up?
(As a funny side note, the game where someone else played Platinum AngelPlatinum Angel at the same time as my Abyssal PersecutorAbyssal Persecutor made for some really funny conversations about what needed to be removed and who needed to get eliminated, and in what order!)
Thank you,
Elgorond Halistar
VERDICT
Thank you for writing and asking me to weigh in on your story. As I mention every week, if folks don't write to me, there's no column, so if you, the reader, want to send me a story, whether it's your own or one from Reddit or a friend's, please send it to amithebolas@gmail.com and I'll get to it here.
I need to see this list.
With that opening comment and this article from January, it should come as no surprise that my thoughts on this are that this deck sounds cool as hell; this is such a fun deck to bring to the right table. Encountering this deck among fellow members of Team Story for the first time would be so much fun. What a loaded sentence! It makes this deck extremely niche. I don't know how people see this deck do its thing once and then allow it to happen again. It does feel like one of those "genie out of the bottle" decks and it also feels like one that would benefit from the element of surprise.
This is such a fun submission.
Given the examples provided, there's one thing we can really hang our hats on, and that's that this deck requires some trust. Being able to surprise some pals who know you well with this deck seems wonderful, however, I can understand how one can be pushed to not appreciate the necromantic gun to their head. The vibe needs to be right.
When I play a variant I've known as Game of Thrones (but I'm sure carries many names), sometimes, one of the hidden roles is that of the Necromancer. This role's revealed when the Necromancer kills a player. The newly dead player gains some life, loses some permanents, discards cards, and becomes a new member of Team Necromancer. It's a challenging role and leads to some interesting, memorable moments.
This deck feels like an extrapolation on this idea; I find that exciting.
While I understand that it can be frustrating to be pushed into this position, it shouldn't need to be said, but they can scoop. If for whatever reason they can't scoop - your playgroup has a no scooping agreement - then they have the choice to destroy your Persecutor or hinder your game to get out of the whole ordeal. Mutually assured destruction.
But it cannot be overstated, you can scoop. Going into Game of Thrones with the Necromancer role, it's something you expect to happen. However, if I rock up to a Bracket 2 game table, and this deck hits, it could sour the vibe if the table isn't set right.
Give them the choice to stay in or bow out. Make sure you've set the table by breaking this deck out among those who know about the deck. Prep those to be introduced to it with enough information to know where they stand, but not so much to give the secret away (because I think it's pretty fun).
Thanks again for writing in.
Mike Carrozza
Mike Carrozza is a stand-up comedian from Montreal who’s done a lot of cool things like put out an album called Cherubic and worked with Tig Notaro, Kyle Kinane, and more people to brag about. He’s also been an avid EDH player who loves making silly stuff happen. @mikecarrozza on platforms.
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